Inmates' art on display at Torpedo Factory

 Morgan Freeman by C.M., graphite, Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.  Artists choose whether to use their initials or their names for display.

So many came for the opening of a new art exhibition at the Torpedo Factory Friday night that guests spilled out into an entrance hallway and packed the gallery where  they had to strain to hear remarks by the curator.  

Morgan Freeman by B.G., graphite, Alexandria Detention Center. Ceiling lights and more are reflected in the protective glass in this photo of the art at the exhibition at the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

They came to see Off the Grid: Creating Change Through Art Instruction & Inspiration named after an art technique of Kelli Schollard-Sincock who volunteers as an instructor for inmates at the Alexandria Detention Center and the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

It was the inmates' art on display, and their enthusiasm for Ms. Schollard-Sincock's classes has led to waiting lists.

By K. S, graphite, Fairfax County Adult Detention Center

At the Friday event, her passion for her students and their learning was itself exhibited several times as tears fell from her eyes while she related her own personal experiences and rewards, teaching and communicating with the inmates. 

Kelli Schollard-Sincock at the Torpedo Factory, July 20, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie

As far as she knows, this is a first for inmates. Ms. Schollard-Sincock donates about 20 hours weekly to the effort.

Although the graphite renderings presented are mostly of attractive young women (suggesting male artists), Ms. Schollard-Sincock's students include men and women, she said. 
  
I went, hoping to buy a piece of art, but she said none are for sale:  "The logistics would be too hard," she said.  Does the art belong to the sheriff's department?  The inmates?  How would that be sorted?  She has no more hours to devote to the cause.

Ms. Schollard-Sincock is a certified forensic sketch artist who has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from George Mason University.  

She began working on Inspiration Matterz last year as a trial at the Alexandria Detention Center. The Del Ray Artisans have been so impressed by her contributions and skills, they have embraced her program and are a major sponsor of the exhibition, said a spokesman.

Donated art supplies are welcome: 
Pads of Bristol Board drawing paper (various sizes)
Pads of Drawing Paper (no spiral bound)
Pads of tracing paper
Packages of carbon paper
Packages of standard printing paper (white and colored)
Cardboard backed canvases (variety of sizes)
Smudge sticks (packages are best)
Erasers: gum, kneaded, and white 
Drawing pencils: (specifically 8B, 4B, 2B, HB, 5H, and 6/7H) Paint brushes in a variety of sizes
Acrylic paint sets (especially black, white, red, yellow, blue)
Legal-size manilla folders

(Writer's note:  Until this exhibition I did not understand the difference between an "inmate" and a "prisoner." Click here for definitions.) 

What: Off the Grid: Creating Change Through Art Instruction & Inspiration

Where: The Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314

When: Now through August 31, 2018, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily and until 9 p.m. Thursdays. (Call 703-746-4570 to make sure the Torpedo Factory is not closing early for a private event.)

How much:  No charge

For more information: torpedofactory@alexandriava.gov or 703-746-4570

For how to support: Contact the Target Gallery director,  Leslie Mounaime, leslie.mounaime@alexandriava.gov., 703-746-4590

patricialesli@gmail.com

Torpedo Factory artists have lots for the hard-to-please

On a bumpy sidewalk along Alexandria's King Street on the way to the Torpedo Factory Art Center/patricia leslie

For samples of local original art, jewelry, vases, mugs, glass bears, cashmere and hand-painted silk scarves, books, paintings (all sizes), cards, sculpture, calendars, tapestries, or pottery about cats (really, it's there), what better place than the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria where reasonable prices abound, and artists are ready to talk, Merry Christmas! 

It's a winter wonderland of art. So much to see! So much to choose! And so much fun.

 

 

At the Torpedo Factory Art Center's open house in Alexandria/patricia leslie

What a totally delightful experience to visit galleries and discuss the creations while strolling from piece to piece and sipping champagne. What? You missed this year's open house? There is next year, dearie, and besides, the art remains. 

(Breaking news from a Torpedo Factory tweet: Decadent December Art Night 12/13 6-9pm w/ chocolate, shopping, exhibit receptions + @WAACBand!  Let's go!)

Some of the treats at the Torpedo Factory Art Center's open house/patricia leslie

Have you ever been? It's the home of 160 artists, 82 studios, 2,000 students, six galleries, Bread and Chocolate (!), and a museum, all which occupy three floors in a facility built after the end of World War I for torpedo construction. (Only in D.C.) 

Snowflakes dance in the windows of this Torpedo Factory gallery where Gloria Barbre, Candace Edgerley, AnneMarie Feld, Virginia Irby-Maxwell, Tamara Embrey, Kathy Udell, and Saaraliisa Ylitalo have art they want to show you/patricia leslie

Still on display in the main hall is a (dormant) green torpedo constructed on-site in 1945. Yes, the building definitively suggests the military, if you've ever been inside a submarine or on an aircraft carrier: The environment is similar which is part of the charm.

Music by Wytold, stationed on a second floor walk-through, added merriment to the Torpedo Factory Art Center's open house/patricia leslie

 

After World War II, everybody used the building for storage: the military, the Smithsonian (dinosaur bones), Congress, the federal government, until Alexandria bought it, and its development as an arts center began in earnest in 1974.

The Torpedo Factory's third floor is also the home of the Alexandria Archaeology Museum where the main exhibit, the Lee Street Site, features one city block and what's been found there. The museum is an excellent introduction to archaeology for children of all ages.  Hands-on demonstrations are part of the learning experience at the museum.

Tory Cowles, Sheep Jones, and Jeanne Garant are the artists at this studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center/patricia leslie

 

Alison Sigethy makes and sells environmental art at the Torpedo Factory Art Center/patricia leslie

 

Is that sculptor Carol G. Levin on the left?  In her studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center/patricia leslie

 

A view from above at the Torpedo Factory Art Center/patricia leslie

 

This handsome fellow greeted guests at the gallery of Lisa Schumaier at the Torpedo Factory Art Center/patricia leslie

 

What: Torpedo Factory Art Center

When: Open daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. (until 9 p.m. on Thursdays)

Where: On the waterfront at 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

For more information: 703-838-4565

Metro station: King Street. From the Metro you have two choices (excluding a taxi):  Walk a pleasant (flat) 30 minutes down King Street, past beautifully decorated shops on your way, or hop on the free trolley, coming and going, which also takes you past beautifully decorated shops.

patricialesli@gmail.com